Playback
- Episode aired Mar 2, 1975
- TV-PG
- 1h 13m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.
Photos
Herbert Jefferson Jr.
- S. Baxter
- (as Herb Jefferson Jr.)
Frank Baxter
- Officer Bronson
- (uncredited)
Henry
- Columbo's Dog
- (uncredited)
Mike Lally
- Man in Snack Bar
- (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey
- Man in Art Gallery
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPeter Falk traveled all the way to Switzerland to persuade Oskar Werner in person to take part in this segment.
- GoofsColumbo has the security video (a wide shot of the room) enhanced and is able to read the wording on a card on the mantelpiece, thereby nullifying the suspect's alibi. This would have been impossible. It is stretching technology and image-enhancement way too far to be able to extract a clear image of the card from something that occupies only a few lines of the video image and to manufacture information that was simply not there in the original image.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Remington Steele: Stronger Than Steele (1985)
Featured review
A classic Columbo
This is one of the best Columbo episodes, with a tightly wound plot, beautiful pacing, and excellent acting from the guest star. Oskar Werner plays an electronics expert who has completely outfitted his house with gadgetry to help his wheelchair-bound wife. His clever plan to murder his interfering mother-in-law and to use a delayed videotape of the murder to establish his alibi seems to be working, until Lt. Columbo starts looking into the case. The unique plot technique of showing the murder and then watching the subsequent investigation gives the viewer the strange experience of identifying with the murderer. Like the killer, we know all the facts ahead of the police, and begin to feel the same anxiety and tension as the net closes in. The climax of this movie is wonderful, as the killer is trapped with the very technology he has set up to establish his innocence.
helpful•292
- Rosabel
- Nov 20, 1999
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